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Philippa Thomas

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Philippa Thomas is the professional support lawyer for Mayer Brown's Real Estate practice in London and the firm’s EMEA knowledge team lead responsible for helping facilitate global, local and practice-specific knowledge management strategies and initiatives.

Prior to joining Mayer Brown, Philippa was a barrister practising in all aspects of property law at the London Bar.

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Building reflections in the city of London

The COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences have had a turbulent effect on the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors in the UK. Government regulations in response to the pandemic have required tenants to close their premises to the public for long periods of time, causing profits to plummet, whilst landlords have been faced with rent ceasing to be paid and few remedies remaining available to them due to Government restrictions prohibiting leases being brought to an end by forfeiture for non-payment of rent and preventing the use of statutory demands and winding up petitions based on non-payment of rent until summer 2021.

There has been particular dispute and discussion as to upon whom (landlords, tenants and/or insurers) the burden of the financial detriment caused by the pandemic should fall. For this reason, the recent judgment in Bank of New York Mellon (International) Ltd v Cine-UK Ltd and others [2021] EWHC 1013 (QB) is important as it tackles head-on the thorny issue as to whether rent remains due and payable by tenants of commercial premises in spite of the circumstances of the pandemic.

Continue Reading Commercial rent arrears payable despite COVID-19 pandemic

There is just over a week left to participate in the Government’s consultation on the withdrawal or replacement of the protections it has put in place to protect commercial tenants during the COVID-19 pandemic. On 6 April 2021 the Government launched a consultation calling for those involved in the commercial property sector to participate in a survey on what should happen when the current restrictions placed on landlords come to an end on 30 June 2021. The consultation is open to all those with an interest in commercial property and will end at 11.45 a.m. on 4 May 2021.
Continue Reading Government consultation on withdrawal of moratorium on evictions ends on 4 May 2021

The skyline of London, United Kingdom, during sunset time

The Government has confirmed that it will be renewing the measures it introduced to protect tenants in the commercial property sector unable to pay their rent due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, commercial tenants benefit from a prohibition on landlords forfeiting commercial leases for non-payment of rent. This measure was due to expire on 31 March 2021, and despite the Government confirming in December 2020 that this would be the final extension to protections from the threat of eviction, the Government has announced that the restriction on forfeiture will in fact be extended until 30 June 2021.

The Government has also renewed the restriction on landlords using Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery (CRAR) to recover unpaid rent, which was due to expire on 31 March 2021, but has now been extended until 30 June 2021. This measure will increase the total number of days’ outstanding rent required for CRAR to be used to 457 days if CRAR is to be used between 25 March and 23 June, increasing to 554 days’ if CRAR is to be used between 24 and 30 June.  It is not yet clear whether the Government will extend the measures introduced by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 restricting the use of statutory demands and winding-up petitions which is due to expire on 31 March 2021.Continue Reading Commercial property evictions ban extended until 30 June 2021

The Government has confirmed that it will be renewing the measures it introduced to protect tenants in the commercial property sector unable to pay their rent due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, commercial tenants benefit from a prohibition on landlords forfeiting commercial leases for non-payment of rent. This measure was due to end on 31…

The Government has confirmed that it will be extending the temporary ban on commercial landlords issuing statutory demands and winding up petitions against commercial tenants who have not paid their rent during the COVID-19 pandemic. A statutory demand can be issued where a corporate debtor owes £750 to a creditor. If the debt is not…

The Government has confirmed that it will be renewing the measures it introduced protecting tenants in the commercial property sector unable to pay their rent due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, commercial tenants benefit from a prohibition on landlords forfeiting commercial leases for non-payment of rent and restrictions on landlords using commercial rent arrears recovery

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The UK government has confirmed today that it will be renewing the package of measures it introduced for tenants in the commercial property sector unable to pay their rent due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including extending the moratorium on forfeiture and the restrictions on issuing statutory demands and winding up petitions from 30 June until…

As the June quarterly rent day looms, the government has announced it is set to publish a new code of practice to support high street landlords and tenants. The code is said to be designed to provide “clarity and reassurance” over rent payments by encouraging “fair and transparent” discussions between landlords and tenants. It also…

The private rented sector (PRS) in the UK has grown significantly in the last decade and the multifamily sector in particular has attracted substantial investment from new overseas investors, with Greystar, Atlas and Courtland each gaining a foothold in the UK market.

According to the British Property Federation (BPF), there are currently over 150,000 multifamily…